SOUTH BEND, IND. – The Notre Dame volleyball team battled back in an intense fifth set to secure win number one on the season, taking down Santa Clara 3-2 in the season opener and first game of the Catholic Challenge. The Irish are now 1-0 on the young season.
Down 14-10 and facing match point in the fifth set, the Irish refused to surrender, going on a 4-0 run capped by an Anna Bjork kill to knot it up at 14-all. A Broncos kill put Santa Clara back up 15-14, but that’s when Morgan Gaerte sandwiched two kills in between a Broncos attack error to give the Irish the 17-15 win in the fifth set to secure the match.
Gaerte notched a career-high 21 kills on the night, three more than her previous career best from last year. The Preseason All-ACC selection scored 22.0 points on the night, a game high.
Career-high 2️⃣1️⃣ kills for Morgan 🔥#GoIrish☘️ | @MorganGaerte pic.twitter.com/3b6n4UULF8
— Notre Dame Volleyball (@NDvolleyball) August 30, 2025
Three freshmen, Maya Baker, Maya Evens and Chichi Nnaji made their first career starts on the night, while fellow first-year player Mae Kordas made her collegiate debut as well.
Evens, playing as the libero, registered 25 digs on the night to go along with three assists, while Maya Baker dished out 21 assists and dug out nine Broncos attacks, just missing out on a double-double. When combined with Harmony Sample’s 18 assists, Notre Dame recorded 52 kills on 45 assists on Friday night.
Nnaji notched 10 kills on the evening, joining Gaerte as the only Irish with double-digit kill totals on the night. Kordas made an impact off the bench, tallying four kills, three blocks and two aces, which came in a critical moment in the third set to boost Notre Dame to a 2-1 match lead at the time.
The Irish recorded 19 total blocks on the night, led by Grace Langer’s career-high 11. Langer became the first Notre Dame player to record 10 or more blocks in a single game since Charity McDowell had 10 back in the 2022 season.
Notre Dame will look to continue its momentum on Sunday against Villanova to conclude the Catholic Challenge. First serve is set for 1 p.m. and admission to all Notre Dame regular season volleyball matches is free.